I showed my young daughter this. She was also aghast at the 75% tax rate (proposed in France I think?). I had just done a search to refresh my memory with Reagan’s tax cuts. It had been 70% on the highest incomes, and he reduced it to 28%.
I asked her who are the richest people in America - not including movie stars, etc. (She’s 14).
“Uhm - people that work at Microsoft?”
“Well - yes! And the richest guy at Microsoft?”
“Bill Gates!”
“Right again - and why is Bill Gates the richest?”
“Cuz he owns the company?”
“Right. Many, if not most, of the really rich folks in America own or run companies. Now, instead of paying 70% to the government you are told to only pay 28%, what are you going to do?”
“Spend more!!!”
“That was part of it, and...??? (The following was with numerous “and”’s to lead her on:
“Work harder and earn more”
“Build more things”
“Hire more workers”
“Now - did the government over a period of time bring in MORE money by lowering the tax rate, or did it bring in LESS money.?”
“I want to say less, because they were only getting 30%. BUT, the rich were making more money, and more people were working and making more - so I want to say the government brought in more money.”
“Yes - it was MORE money going to government than before!”
“Dad - you should be President!”
“No - I’m just telling you everything that President Reagan had already done!”
“Inves
good lesson for your child.